Current collection-the customer´s needs

Current collection from an overhead electrified wire via a pantograph or trolley pole has existed since the advent of electric traction. Wherever there has been a requirement to collect current for a high speed moving vehicle, sliding contact using a pantograph has generally won the day. From the customers´ perspective, where the customer is taken to be the train operator (TOC), the method of collecting the current from the overhead wire is of academic interest. It is more the need of the operator that defines the engineering techniques used and it is this aspect that is explored in this paper